


Show Off Your Natural Hue

by septmars



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dragons, Gen, Pre-Canon, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 09:22:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13678836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septmars/pseuds/septmars
Summary: Charlie and Luna at an Easter dinner, talking about dragons.





	Show Off Your Natural Hue

Luna Lovegood was a weird child. It was already apparent from her pedigree—the Lovegoods were a kooky bunch even for wizards—but until now Charlie visualized her weirdness in an abstract way, imagining her as a girl version of her father. He was a bit glad to be proven wrong. Luna resembled Xenophilius in some ways, but she looked more like her mother, a wispy woman with a whisper-like voice. Except for her eyes. She had her mother’s big blue eyes but the way she looked at people in the eye with a mix of confidence and curiosity was all Xenophilius.

That stare was currently levelled at Charlie.

“Er,” he said eloquently. “Can I help you?”

“Do you like animals?” she asked matter-of-factly, with none of the shyness an eight-year-old girl like her should possess.

“I do,” he replied. He never tried to hide his passion for dragons, but save for Professor Kettleburn, everyone regarded it as a boyish fancy. Something he would eventually outgrow when it was time for him to play for the Cannons or the United.

He’s in his sixth year now. That time would come sooner rather than later.

Luna brightened instantly. “I knew it. The Onzikts told me, you know; they told me you like animals.”

“Onzikts?”

“They’re tiny invisible animals, like dust mites. But the difference is Onzikts have this certain glow to them based on the people and objects they touch.” Luna pointed to the general area around Charlie. “Most people can’t see the Onzikt’s glow, but Mum taught me how. You have a green-like glow around you. Mum said that people with green glows are kind and love nature.”

Charlie was pretty sure he didn’t have any kind of glows around him, but just to be sure that Fred and George didn’t play a prank on him he looked around. He did not see any greenery, except for the grass they stood on.

“I don’t think Onzikts exist,” he said gently.

“That’s okay, most people don’t either,” she said with a calmness that belied her age. “But it doesn’t change the fact that they _do_ exist. It doesn’t matter how many people believe them, Onzikts would continue to grow and live. Anyway, what kind of animals do you like best?”

“Uh.” Charlie was taken aback by Luna’s speediness in changing the subject. “I like dragons the most.”

“Dragons?” She perked up again. “I like dragons too! Mum gave me an encyclopaedia about dragons for my birthday last month, do you want to see?”

Before Charlie could respond, she was already sitting cross-legged on the grass. She reached into her little sling bag and pulled _The Illustrated Lives of Dragons_ by Wilhelmina Ridgebit and Ansgar Thuesen.

Against his better judgement, Charlie found himself longing for the book, wanting to sit beside her. _The Illustrated Lives of Dragons_ was _the_ seminal work in dragonology, a labour of love by Wilhelmina and her husband Ansgar. It was the first work that attempted to paint a complete picture on how dragons live and behave instead of only identifying their traits and species. Charlie had a secondhand copy tucked away in his room, worn and torn in some places. But Luna’s was shining in its newness and when she opened it, he could see that it was the latest edition with fully-coloured drawings and an updated section on the Hebridean Black.

He glanced at the house. His parents and her parents were busy conversing and mingling with the rest of the adults, while the other children were preoccupied with one of the twins’ pranks. They were probably going to be alone for a while.

He sat on the grass beside her.

“I like the Swedish Short-Snout best,” Luna said, quickly flipping through the pages to the Short-Snout section. “They are very pretty and very powerful.”

The Swedish Short-Snout was indeed one of the prettier dragons out there and the colour illustration did it justice. The drawings vividly showed the Short-Snout’s gleaming silver-blue skin, its long elegant neck and its flame, as blue and brilliant as Sirius in the night sky.

Charlie watched in awe as the dragons on the page leapt, flew, ate, and breathed fire. His copy was one of the older editions with the dull monochrome drawings. Though he cherished it very much, nothing could beat seeing the dragons go about their lives in rich colour.

He felt a pang of longing in his chest. How fun it must be, to care and keep and study dragons. He envied the men and women who had the courage and means to be a dragonologist.

“What’s your favourite dragon?”

“Er, sorry?” Charlie said blankly, pulled out of his reverie.

“What’s your favourite dragon?” Luna repeated in calm patience.

“I like Romanian Longhorns.”

Luna dutifully went to the Longhorn’s section. Charlie was seized with a surge of fondness when he saw the illustration of broad muscled Longhorns with their dark green coat and gleaming golden horns.

“They’re not very pretty,” Luna observed.

“They’re not,” he agreed. “But they are powerful and power is another kind of beauty. Besides, despite being ugly, they’re highly coveted for their golden horns. See.” He pointed to a drawing of their horn. “It’s a nice contrast, don’t you think, that a dragon this hideous would have something so beautiful? Yet because of this beautiful thing they’re almost hunted to extinction. People want their golden horns and oftentimes their horns only, since Longhorns’ hide are famously tough to craft, but they don’t know how to cut them. Longhorns are able to live without their horns, but cutting the horns without injuring them is a delicate process so most poachers would just blast their head and eventually all that’s left are dead dragons.”

“How horrible,” Luna murmured, caressing an illustration of a Longhorn caring for her baby.

“It is terrible, but their numbers are improving. Now dragon reserves have upped their anti-poaching measures and Longhorns in reserves usually have their horns cut. Some dragonologists have even developed an experimental way to simplify the horn-cutting process. The method is currently tested, but researches are optimistic.”

“Oh, that’s good then. They won’t be killed for their horns anymore,” she said and then paused, looking at him with great interest. “You know a lot about dragons. Are you a dragonologist?”

“No.” Charlie laughed.

“You _want_ to be a dragonologist, then,” Luna observed, looking at him with those big frank eyes.

“I—well,” Charlie said, uncomfortable under her steady and even gaze. Only seven and she already has more confidence than me, Charlie thought bitterly. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Luna tilted her head, as if it was the first time she heard that word. “What’s so complicated about it? You either want or don’t want to be a dragonologist.”

“Well, I’m interested in being a dragonologist, yes. But I have my family to think about. A dragonologist isn’t exactly a well-paying job.” The Cannons’ pay was so much bigger, he thought to himself.

“Money isn’t the source of all happiness,” Luna said, sounding more mature than her age. “You can be unhappy with lots of money. You can be happy with little money.”

Charlie looked at his parents, laughing at something Mr Lovegood said. They were poor, but they were happy, weren’t they? Charlie had a much better family life than some of his more well-off friends.

He smiled at Luna. “I suppose so,” he said. At the corner of his eye, he caught his mother waving at them. “Come on, let’s go back inside. They’re looking for us.”

Luna dutifully put her book away. Charlie offered his hand. After looking at it for a few seconds, Luna accepted it. Her hand was small, yet her grip was steady.


End file.
